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<title>Public Enemies, Private Lovers by panchostokes (badwolfrun)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28937724">Public Enemies, Private Lovers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfrun/pseuds/panchostokes'>panchostokes (badwolfrun)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Nick/Greg Ficlets [86]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s05e15 King Baby, M/M, Secret Lovers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:35:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28937724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfrun/pseuds/panchostokes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's so Jackie Collins.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Greg Sanders/Nick Stokes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Nick/Greg Ficlets [86]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1257824</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Public Enemies, Private Lovers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Having separate shifts may have been the best and worst thing to happen to Nick and Greg’s relationship.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Best in the way that it was easier to hide, after the lab had been remodeled and the walls to DNA were becoming more transparent, it was harder for Nick to hang around without attracting suspicion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still remembers the time Grissom caught him leisurely leaning against the counter, reeling a similarly laid back Greg towards him with a re-telling of a tale that he can’t quite remember. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All he remembers is the way he had caught Greg in his web and Greg didn’t seem eager to get out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were known for being good friends, sure. Greg was known for being a sexual deviant, bragging over one night stands and bringing certain...magazines to work, his apartment having a reputation often teased about by the flings—male and female—who had the pleasure to experience it. Nick was known for being a ladies man, traditional, believed in the slow burn process of wooing and was delicate; loved lace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They thought they were in the clear, nobody would ever expect them together, opposite sides of a romantic spectrum. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then Greg cleared his proficiency, and Nick just </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t keep his hands off of him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Nobody pointed it out at the time, with everybody distracted in celebration rather than any ideals of scrutinization.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the whispers definitely started when prying eyes saw Nick entangle his fingers with Greg’s on their way out of Grissom’s office, though he had tried to deflect with a tight nerve pinch into the man’s shoulder—Greg flinching under the pressuring fingers but smiling at the firm yet gentle grip on his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So from then on they sort of had to just...pretend they didn’t like each other. Become public enemies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe enemies was going a bit too far, but when the time came and the old gang was back together, Nick and Greg made absolutely certain to steer clear of each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even when the “kids” got to pair up with one another. Nick insisted on working with Sara. Greg shrugged and went with Warrick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But only after Nick kicked Greg out of the layout room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Building a chest for all your toys?” he joked, startling Nick who had been taking a look on the underside of the box.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Greg,” Nick sighed with annoyance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Just like the good ol’ days, huh? Me comin’ in to snoop and see what you’re up to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm-hm,” Nick seemed to ignore him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you suppose is in there?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t know. About to find out,” Nick said shortly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard you and Grissom went to the adult Babies R Us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’d you hear that from?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t matter,” Greg shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The one at the store was bigger,” Nick cleared his throat, eager to change the subject before Greg makes any indication he heard about what happened at the store.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good place to hide,” Greg leaned in. “Just like Eiger hid his secret love affairs,” he added, looking at the clock. It was midnight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The “love” hours had officially begun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe...we could hide in there together,” he suggested to Nick in a sultry whisper, teasing his tongue against Nick’s ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get outta here, Greg!” Nick hissed with a high squeak. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, c’mon, Nick. Don’t you want some...</span>
  <em>
    <span>playtime?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>sick, </span>
  </em>
  <span>man. Wouldn’t catch me dead in a box like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well maybe if we make a blanket fort with that giant crib—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m serious, go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you need help—?” Greg suddenly sobered, backing off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll page Sara. Rather work with her anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though he knew on some level, Nick was just trying to downplay the flirting to save face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>....Right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no wink. No half-smile. No apology, not even with his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he joined Warrick in the A/V Lab, doing his best to get back to work but still occasionally looking back to see if Nick was looking for him, too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t, and didn’t even see Nick until a few hours later when they both just happened to be in the locker room for a fresh change of clothes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No words were exchanged, but before he left, Nick tossed down a book onto Greg’s lap, cleared his throat and promptly left the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A Jackie Collins book, he briefly recalled how he saw Nick haunting the halls when he had made the comment to Ecklie and Grissom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He opened the front cover, saw a handwritten note;</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>7 AM, at MY inner sanctum. Playtime.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Greg pressed his lips against the book and promptly put it on the shelf in his locker, stashing it away in his own box; a lockbox of memories shared between secret lovers.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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